The University of Idaho volleyball team continued its road trip from Northern Arizona, where it suffered a hard loss in three sets, to play Portland State on Halloween night, taking another hard loss in a short three sets, with the Vandals not reaching even 20 points in any of the three sets.
The Vandals played the Portland State Vikings three weeks ago in Idaho’s home Memorial Gym, winning in four sets. The game was evenly paced between the two teams, but the Vandals came out on top to secure their second win of the conference season.
Unfortunately, they didn’t step onto the court with the same zeal they had before, taking the loss to Portland as the Vikings added a tally to their five-game winning streak.
Out of the gate, the Vandals stepped onto the court up 6-3 in the first few points, but they quickly fell behind after a service error by Kiana Greer and four straight attack errors by the Vandal offense.
Nearing the end of the set, the Vikings were up by eight, 20-12, and clinched the last five points on multiple kills, aided notably by one of Portland’s top-scoring hitters, Ashley Repetti. The set ended 25-14 in favor of the Vikings, as the Vandals couldn’t find their footing on the court.
The second set was significantly closer through the first half. The Vandals consistently stayed one to two points ahead until, at 15-14, a six-point run sealed the rest of the set.
The Vandals’ energy dropped, as they didn’t work to score a single point through the rest of the set, only gaining points off Portland’s two service errors through the end.
The Vikings took 11 of the last 13 points, with over half coming on kills put down on the Vandal court, to end the set 25-17.
In the final set, the Vandals could not seem to make any sort of comeback, with Portland taking an early lead and holding it the rest of the game.
Idaho managed to tally 10 kills, a game high throughout the three sets, but it wasn’t enough as the Vikings took a seven-point run to close the game 25-14, sweeping the University of Idaho in three sets.
Notably, five points from the seven-point run were attack errors by the Vandals’ front row instead of offensive power by Portland.
For the Vikings, outside hitters Ashley Repetti and Alivia Eikenberg led the game on offense, contributing 11 points each for the Vikings and tallying over half of Portland’s total kills from the game.
Additionally, they were able to put up and hold a strong block at the front line throughout the entirety of the game, putting up 10 against the Vandals, led by Reese Biesemeyer, who contributed four.
Portland’s setter, Ava Blacziek, contributed 27 assists for her team, nearing almost double that of Idaho’s Csenge Krakoczki, who posted only 15 in the game.
Their libero, Jessica Truong, led the game in digs with 11. Repetti and Blacziek each finished with eight as Portland’s back row consistently played great defense against the Vandals.
For Idaho, Kiana Greer returned to the front row after the game against Northern Arizona, where she played as a defensive specialist in the back row. She led the team with nine kills for the Vandals, with Lucy Ryan behind her at three.
Unfortunately, scores for the Vandals dropped far below the norm for each of the players on the court, and the Vandal offense could not seem to find a consistent rhythm against the Vikings, making a total of 26 attack errors, higher than their total of 24 kills in the game.
Setter Csenge Krakoczki made only 15 assists through the game, with the Vandals counting 22 total assists, marking the lowest number they’ve had since 2024.
She did, however, contribute nine digs on defense, managing to outplay Idaho’s own libero, who put up only six.
The hard game resulted in a loss for the Vandals, who are now 3-9 in conference play. Despite the Vandals opening the nonconference season strong, they’ve consistently struggled within the Big Sky and have been unable to recreate their preseason stats in recent games.
The Vandals play Northern Colorado in the coming week for a rematch after losing to them in four sets in early October.